One interesting thing for the upcoming Rally Norway is the new, wider snow tyres (15″) that will be used. To reduce team costs, the tyres are no longer special narrow (16″) ones that can penetrate deep into the snow and find grip. Instead, the new tyres are the same dimensions as the wider gravel ones – which of course means more problems to get through the snow and get grip.
After Ford’s test in Sweden in December Jari-Matti Latvala told that the new tyre provided more grip than he had expected under braking – but that he doubted that it would work well if the snow was really deep. The Rally Norway regions are often quite snow rich, so that would mean that the tyre could cause problems there. And that would for sure mean that you should avoid to be first out on the stages to sweep the road.
The concerns are confirmed by Pirelli’s rally manager Mario Isola:
- We’ve tested the new tyre and it’s met all our expectations. It also fulfils our brief from the FIA to slow the cars. The wider tyre does not bite through the snow as effectively, so the cars slide more. The wear might also increase, but we will see.
So, this means a slower but probably more spectacular Rally Norway. And it sends a clear message to all drivers: make sure to position yourself in the standings not to be first on the road. Which means; avoid to lead the championship after Ireland (ok, maybe we can make exceptions here) – and don’t even think about being 15th after day one or day two. 
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the new tyre makes a visible difference or if it’s just same to everyone…
